The present invention relates to an image processing device, a three-dimensional image printing system, and an image processing method and program for producing a three-dimensional image corresponding to three-dimensional image data.
Conventionally, a sense of depth is produced using a parallax produced by displaying a combination of a plurality of images having different lines of sight. Examples of methods for producing a sense of depth include a method (1) applying linear polarization to the left eye image and the right eye image in directions intersecting each other at right angles and using polarized glasses, a method (2) whereby the left eye image and the right eye image are displayed alternately and viewed with glasses equipped with liquid crystal shutters synchronized with the display means, and a method (3) using red and blue light that are superposed on the left eye image and the right eye image, respectively, and glasses having red and blue color filters on the left and the right side thereof.
Another method of producing a sense of depth to the naked eye is one whereby, for example, an image is cut into a plurality of strips and arranged alternately for the left and the right eye to view their respective images using a parallax barrier or a lenticular lens to enable depth perception.
As related to the present invention may be cited prior art documents JP 2006-165795 A, JP 2008-90617 A, JP 2008-252493 A, and JP 2004-334833 A.
JP 2006-165795 A describes a three-dimensional image producing device wherein imaging is performed by a plurality of imaging devices from a plurality of positions, and upon designation of given positions from among the plurality of positions and imaging times, a plurality of frame images different in imaging time are selected, whereupon a three-dimensional image producer combines the selected frame images and prints a three-dimensional image such that the three-dimensional image can be sequentially observed through a given optical system as the viewpoint moves.
JP 2008-90617 A describes a three-dimensional image producing device comprising a detector for detecting the position, the posture or the shape of a real object placed on a three-dimensional display plane or close to the three-dimensional display plane, a blocked region calculator for calculating a blocked region that is a region where the light emitted from the three-dimensional display plane is blocked by the real object according to the position, the posture or the shape of the real object, and a drawer for performing an image processing on the blocked region that is different from the image processing performed on the other region than the blocked region to draw a three-dimensional image.
JP 2008-252493 A describes a file producing device comprising a luminance image acquiring means for acquiring a luminance image representing the luminances of points captured by an imaging system upon imaging an imaged space, a three-dimensional information acquiring means for acquiring three-dimensional information representing spatial positions of respective points with a given coordinate system, and an offset origin setting means for receiving inputs of offset values on the axes of the coordinate system entered from a given input unit to store the offset values in a given memory and set an offset origin that is a point obtained by displacing the origin of the coordinate system by the offset values. The file producing device produces a file in a given format having a region for storing information.
JP 2004-334833 A describes a stereoscopic image processing device containing as image control information a tag representing a three-dimensional intensity of a stereoscopic image (three-dimensional intensity tag) such that a stereoscopic image is displayed with a greater depth as the three-dimensional intensity level increases and thus capable of managing the designation of a display device on which a stereoscopic image is to be shown as attached information.